← Victory Church: Paul Daugherty
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Come on, Jesus. Everybody say Ephesians. If you got a Bible, go to Ephesians chapter four.
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Whoo.
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Boomer.
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Yeah.
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Let's go. For everyone that's not from Oklahoma, we have a team called the Sooners, and they are winning right now. And it's a great time to be a Sooner fan. But in Ephesians chapter four, we left off last week on the Peter Pan syndrome that it's time to grow up spiritually, that God is calling us to spiritually mature. I want to welcome our online campus, our Victory North, Victory Manford campus out there. Everyone that's tuning in online all over the world, we're so glad you're with us today. But today I want to talk to you about who's at the door. Tell the person next to you who's at the door? Who's at the door? Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock. Who's at the door? And I want to emphasize Ephesians 4, verse 27, verse 27. This is what Paul says. He says, and do not give the devil a foothold. Shut the door on the devil. Shut the front door. Y' all are like, okay, I'm awake. What is. What is happening right now? Shut the door on the devil. I need to illustrate this for a moment. I need somebody to play the part of the devil. And you're going to try to get into this church through this door over here. We got a door over here. Who wants to be the devil for a second? None of y' all are the devil. You're all Jesus. Will you hop up here and play that part? Thank you so much. Give this mighty man of God a hand. He doesn't know what he's getting himself into. We're literally just doing this on the moment. What's your name again? Maroc. Come on, Maroc. Give it up for Maroc. Okay, you come out here, and you're gonna come out there. And here's what. I want you to knock on that door pretty loud so we can all hear you. Give us a knock. Everybody say, who's at the door? All right, now, this is what happens so often in our life. We just open it up. Come on in, Marat. And we just let whoever's at the door come on in. And we don't check to see what are they bringing and who are they anyways? What are they bringing into my house and who are they? Step out just one more time. Sometimes before we even check, knock one more time, Maroc. We don't even check. We don't even ask. We just Kind of open it. And as soon as we open it, put your foot right there. He's got a foothold. That foothold is a position that all he needs. Now I'm gonna close the door just a little bit, but keep your foot right there. As long as his foot is in the crack. I don't know if the camera's catching this. Is the camera getting this? Okay. As long as his foot is right there in that crack, he has the ability and the power to. To get in. All he needs is a foothold. And can I tell you something? Thank you so much. Marrot. Give him a big hand one more time. All the devil needs is just a crack in the door to bring whatever he wants to bring in. What Paul's about to tell us is that there is a spiritual battle for you and I to pull us into our old way of life before we met Christ, B.C. before we decided to be born again and accept Jesus in our heart and accept this new life. That there is this constant pull to go back into the old way of living. And so I want to back up to verse 17 because this tells us what are we actually asking about this door, who's at the door, and what they're trying to bring. In verse 17, Paul says this. I insist on it in the Lord that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do in the futility of their thinking. So Paul is saying there's an old way of life that you used to be a part of before you accepted Christ. Everybody say before Christ, all of us have a BC and some of you are here today and you're still living in B.C. and you're in the right place because you're about to accept Christ. I believe today you're on a journey of surrender and someone invited you to church. And maybe you came to find a girlfriend, or maybe you came to find a boyfriend, or maybe you came because you had nothing to do. But let me tell you something. You're here on purpose because you have a purpose. And God's about to change your life. Paul says once we accept this new life in Christ, we've got to realize that the old way of life no longer suits us. The old way, the way we used to live, all the stuff we used to do, it's no longer a part of our future. You can't step into your future until you let go of your past. And Paul's saying that former way of life, Everybody say, former way of life, it's no longer for you. In verse 18, he says the way that you used to live, the way that people live without Christ is people who are darkened in their understanding. So there's two things that I noticed right off the bat. In verse 17 and verse 18. Futile thinking, darkened understanding. Both of these have to do with the mind. Now, I spent about 10 years writing a book all about the mind called Mind Games. How many have ever read Mind Games? Shameless. Plug, go get the book. Okay. I believe in the words in that book because the Bible teaches us that as we think, so are we. As a man thinketh, so is he. Our thoughts. And what goes on in our mind determines the course of our life. If we have futile thinking, if we have a darkened understanding, it's gonna lead to a dark way of living. So if I live with a, you know, open door to say, hey, you know what? Any lustful thought that wants to come into my mind is welcome. Here's the open door. Any perverted thought, any dirty thought, any dark thought is welcome. As I think, so am I. The longer those thoughts sit in my mind, it's only a matter of time before those thoughts begin to play out in my life. The Bible teaches us that our thoughts determine the direction and the course of our life. This is why Romans chapter 12 says, if you want to transform your life, you got to renew your mind. Everybody say, renew your mind. So Paul's saying here, he's saying, listen, there is someone at the door, and it's not always Jesus. We do know in the book of Revelation that Jesus stands at the door and he knocks. And if anyone would open the door and let him in, he will come and he will change your life. And by the way, you don't have to have a perfect life for Jesus to change you. Jesus is looking for dirty, open, broken, surrendered men and women that are ordinary. They got issues, they got problems. And he says, you don't have to clean up to come to Jesus. You can come to Jesus and he'll clean you up. I'm so thankful that we don't card you at the door. Like, what sins did you commit this week? Okay, you're allowed in. You only lied a little bit. No, no, no. We're a church that says, come. Come as you are. Come in your sin, come in your shame, come in your dirt, and let the Holy Spirit change you. We're not a church that only allows, you know, the. You know, people that are perfect. This is a great church for imperfect people. If you're. If you're still growing in Christ, you're in the right place. Today, if you've already arrived and graduated, we want to be like you. You're perfect. You're awesome. But how many? All are still a work in progress. That's most of us. Yeah, like the roads of Oklahoma, still under construction. I'm gonna say it every week until our roads get fixed. Okay? We're still working on these highways. We're still working on our life. And Paul says, don't go back to that old way of thinking, that futile thinking, that darkened understanding. Don't just allow the enemy to set up camp in your mind and do whatever you want to do. This is what it goes on to say. Stay on verse 18. He says this having darkened understanding, they are separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Now, I'm not saying somebody's ignorant. Paul's saying they're ignorant. Not this Paul, Paul the Apostle. And he's saying, really, the truth is, we've all been in a place of ignorance where we didn't know that everything we were doing was hurting us as much as it was hurting us. That we didn't realize how much gossip was destroying our life, how much slander, how much junk, how much these thoughts and these words and these actions and the sexual perversion, sleeping with whoever, doing whatever. Paul says all of this stuff has hardened their hearts where they have no sensitivity. By the way, one of the greatest gifts we can have as a Christian is sensitivity, the ability to feel. Paul says they've lost the ability to feel. Their heart has grown so hardened through all the pain and all the sin and all the junk and all the stuff they've been doing. They don't even cry anymore. They cuss somebody out and they don't even feel bad. They cheat their neighbor and they don't even feel wrong for it. It's like there's no conviction, no sensitivity. It's just a hardened heart. And Paul says, that's not you. Paul says, it's a good thing to have conviction. It's a good thing to feel bad for doing something wrong. That means you're a Christian. That means you've got a conscience, a Holy Spirit that's saying, hey, you shouldn't have reacted the way you did. You shouldn't have kept on thinking the way you were thinking. Like, that's the Holy Spirit at the door saying, let me in and let me change you. Let me continue to work in every area of your life. And by the way, you can let God into your heart, but you could keep some doors inside your heart closed. There's not just one door to your heart. If you ever saw the movie Beauty and the Beast, there's that one room. He's like, don't go into the west wing. You remember the Beast, he's like, you're allowed to go all through the house, but you can't go into that one room. You can't have access to that one room. And she's like, what's in that room? And that was the room where the rose petals were falling. He didn't want her to have access to that one door because that one door was the darkest part of his heart. But that was the one door that would need the most change. And you can let Jesus into your heart, but keep certain rooms closed. Like Jesus, you have access to all of me, except for 10% of me, except for the west wing, except for the northern part, except for the part about how I feel towards my dad, how I feel towards my ex, about the junk that I look at on the Internet. You can have access to all of me on Sunday, but Monday is mine, Friday nights are mine at the club. Whatever I want to do on Saturday. Paul says in order to have a real transformed life, you got to give God access to all the doors. All the doors, all the rooms. Paul says they're darkened in their understanding. They're separated from the life of God, but that's not you. In verse 19 he goes on to say this. Because they've gotten so hard in their hearts, they've lost all sensitivity. They've lost all sensitivity. He's describing what it was like when you didn't have Jesus at the center of your heart. He says, they've lost all sensitivity. They've given themselves over. Now giving themselves over is like opening the door when Morocc was standing at the door knocking and I opened. That's giving him access. Now the translation for this right here is actual territory. The devil wants territory in your family. The devil wants territory in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The devil wants territory in north Tulsa, east Tulsa, west Tulsa, south Tulsa. The devil wants territory in your generational legacy. So the alcohol and the drugs and the sleeping around, it's not just affecting you. The enemy's like, oh, I'm going after your grandkids. Like for you, you could keep this a little secret, you can keep it on the side, but 40 years down the road, the enemy's looking at territory. He's like, I'm going to destroy your grandkids life. So you as a 30 year old man you keep on doing your little secret sins. I'm not really into. The devil's in no hurry to destroy you. If he could just keep on playing games, taking territory from you. He'll keep you alive so he could destroy your future generations. And he'll keep you in chains. He'll keep you addicted and afflicted and tormented and depressed. Is this too heavy for Sunday morning? Come on, we're going into freedom's towns. We're going to get free. Paul says they've lost all sensitivity. They've given themselves over. They've opened the door to sensuality so as to indulge in whatever kind of impure feelings, thoughts they have. And they're full of greed. Somehow greed is connected to yielding and opening your life up to whatever your flesh wants. Greed is that feeling of it's never enough, never enough, never, never, never enough, never. Three of us know the song, okay? But greed is basically saying, I want more money, I want more fame, I want more followers, I want more of this, I want more of that. I want more of what the world has to. I want more pleasure, I want that feeling, I want that high, I want that buzz, I want that, I want that. And I'll never have enough. So even if I get the most I could get tonight, I need more tomorrow night. And greed promises you that you're gonna be fulfilled, but then you're not fulfilled. You want more and more and more. And it leads to coveting and wanting what someone else has and the envy of other people's stuff. And I gotta have it. And this is why Paul flips the script here. He says, all of that stuff is no longer what you're going to be like. In verse 20 says, that, however, is not the way of life you learn. Everybody say, who's at the door? Paul says, I got something else for you. I got a better way. I got a new way to be human. I got a new way to live for you. You don't have to open the door to the devil. You don't have to give him a foothold. You don't have to give over to your flesh. You don't have to live in the shame of how many times you blew it and messed up. Though a righteous man falls seven times, he will get back up again. Paul says, I've got a new way to live. And it's a way of grace and a way of truth and a way of morality that's gonna lead to righteousness and holiness and purity. And at the end of the day, you're actually gonna be happy and joyful, not just good for a moment. Cause sin keeps you longer than you wanna stay, costs you more than you wanna pay. Promises to make you feel good at the end of the day, but leaves you high and Dr. Dry and empty. And Paul says, I got something better. Everybody say something better is at the door. So Paul says this, that is not the way of life. You learned verse 21 when you heard about Christ and you were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. And just circle that word, truth, truth. Because truth can sound like hate to those who hate the truth. If I tell you gossip is just as wicked in God's eyes as lust, some people go, well, I don't know, that kind of sounds harsh, Paul, because I do like to gossip a little bit and I'm not as dirty as some of these other lustful sinners around here. And Jesus says, hey, if you, if you gossip, if you sit and talk bad about other people, you're just as much a sinner as the person that sinned sexually. And you go, well, this just feels really harsh, you putting like the morals out there. That's what truth is. Jesus came to give us truth and the truth will set us free. Now we can't produce our righteousness by following all the rules. Our righteousness comes through Jesus blood on the cross. Our salvation is not earned by being good enough people. Our salvation is received by faith, through grace in Jesus Christ. So I am saved by the grace of Jesus Christ, but I am not saved, saved without a purpose. I am saved on purpose, for a purpose. And that purpose is to live for Jesus, not to live for myself. Paul says, you've been saved not because you were good enough. Not because you didn't lie, cheat, steal, do all the wrong stuff. You were saved because Jesus died on the cross for you. And Paul says he died on the cross to save you. Not just so that one day you could barely slip into heaven while you continue to live a very carnal life on earth. But he died to save you, so that you could live a life of heaven on earth, so that you could live a life with purpose, so that you could change the way you're living. Out of the darkness into the light. And by the way, this happens through the renewing of our mind. So Paul says in verse 21, he says, this is the truth that we have in Christ. Verse 22, you were taught with regard to your former way of life to put off your old self. Put off the old you, put off the old Way of things. You know, I think about how today I put on this suit jacket, right? And I intentionally put it on as a decision. I'm gonna wear this. And Paul says, in the same way that you put on your clothes, those words put on. He's literally saying, put on the mind of Christ. Put on compassion today. Put off the lustful way of thinking. Put off the gossip, the slander, the revenge, the need to be bitter at people and stay resentful towards people. Take it off. He says, literally, you can be intentional every day to say, I am done wearing the old outfit that kept me in bondage. I am done. I'm laying it at the altar. Speaking of altar, last night I was doing a wedding, and this couple was getting married in Arkansas, and I was in their backyard. They had an altar. It was a beautiful, beautiful wedding. Members of our church, they drive every week, two hours to come to church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, because the father of the bride, he was working at a construction site at Walmart three years ago, and he saw a sign that said, victory, and he said, I need to go into that place. He came in, gave his heart at the altar to Jesus, brought his family back. Their family has been reached and impacted through this church. And last night, I'm in their backyard doing their wedding, and we're looking out at this open field, and it hits me as the bride and the groom are standing at the altar at this wedding. And I said, don't let this be the last time you stand at the altar together. Because what keeps a marriage strong is not flawlessness from your wife or from your husband, because your husband and wife are going to miss it sometimes. Where's the married people at? How many of y' all have ever missed it with your spouse? If you didn't raise your hand, your spouse will gladly lift your hand up for you and carry you to the altar today. The truth is, we've all missed it. We've said things we shouldn't have said. We've thought things we shouldn't have thought. We've reacted in ways we shouldn't. I was so impulsive. I was so impatient. I was rude. I was harsh. The way I said that. I shouldn't have acted that way. And you know what? That's good to be sensitive, to feel that conviction. Don't be prideful and act like I'm never wrong. I'm the most perfect spouse that has ever existed. Pride puts you in the category of Lucifer, and I don't think he lasted very long. Pride comes before a fall. But there's something about humility. I looked at the husband and wife, the bride and the groom, and I said, you're at the altar, literally at the altar, saying your vows to each other. I said, I remember doing this 16 years ago with my wife. And I said, you know, the truth is, the best marriages that I've met are marriages that continue to practice going to the altar together. Now, that doesn't mean you have to go every Sunday to the altar at Victory, but make an altar in your house of humility, that when you miss it, you apologize. When you do something or say something or think something that wasn't right, that you own it and say, hey, I'm a work in progress. I'm gonna keep growing in who God's called me to be. That's what Paul's talking about here. He's saying, there's a new way to live, and it's not perfection. It's aiming with a purpose and humility to do what God's called you to do. It's getting rid of the former way of life where you had a hardened heart, darkened mind, futile thinking, doing whatever your flesh craved, whatever you wanted. And he said, now you're getting rid of that old you. The old you needs to die. You need to have the death of you today, the death of me, so that the birth of Christ in me can flourish. Something in me needs to die. I remember sitting in a room one time with a group of pastors, and I felt this word from the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was like, paul, you need to have a funeral for some stuff in your life. I had been comparing myself to other pastors, and in many ways, I had gotten pulled into this feeling of lesser than and comparison and inferiority and insecurity and measuring myself against other people. And I felt the Lord say, you need to have a funeral for the need to be like them. You need to have a funeral for the need to be just like your dad. Or the need to have people look at you the way they looked at your dad. You need to die to the selfish, insecure desires in your heart that are still alive. Now, that's access to a room. That's me opening the door to the Holy Spirit, saying, holy Spirit, I think there's some ugly stuff that needs to be worked on in here. And I'm sitting in that room, and I heard the Lord say, like, you need to have a funeral. And I was like, okay, I guess I gotta go get a coffin. And, you know, in my mind, I'm literally thinking, like, what does this mean? It means that I genuinely bring it to the altar and say, God, I've been carrying around a corpse, trying to live as a saved, mighty man of God while still trying to hold on to insecure. Futile thinking, darkened understanding, hardened heart, insecure comparison. And I'm literally saying, God, I'm ready to bury this. I'm ready to bury this, and I don't want to go back to the graveyard. When I was younger, my mom bought me a hamster, and it was like, my favorite little pet. And one day, my hamster had a heart attack. I was watching, literally in front of me. The hamster just went and just fell down and died. And I'm sorry, if that's a trigger for any of y' all in the room, please forgive me. But the hamster died and just literally fell down. And I remember just like, oh, my goodness, I just witnessed the death of my hamster. I told my parents, I'm crying. They were like, paul, it's going to be okay. You know, maybe God will have him one day in heaven. We don't know, you know, like, don't get into the theology. If my hamster's in heaven, okay, I want to believe he is. But I asked my mom, all dogs go to heaven. Hamsters, maybe. I asked my mom. I said, mom, can I mount my hamster on the wall? She said, why would you want to do that? He's dead. I said, I just want to remember him. She said, that's weird and not right. She was like, we're not going to have any dead stuff in our house. Got me thinking, I wonder what dead stuff is in your house. My mom said, no, you're gonna have a funeral for the hamster. I know you're nostalgic about all the memories with this little guy. Some of us are so nostalgic about our former way of life. We're like, oh, I just want to keep it with me. Can I just keep the corpse in the house? Can I just keep going back to the casinos and just doing whatever I want to do? Can I just keep getting wasted and sleeping around with whoever I want to sleep with? Can I just give into the old way? Like, I know I'm saved. I mean, I am saved, but I just want to keep the corpse with me. I just want to live in both. The truth is, all of us in this room, we have, like, a good side of us and a not so good side of us. Paul says it in Romans, chapter seven. He says, the flesh battle between my spirit and what My flesh. My flesh craves to do what it shouldn't do. And don't act like you don't have a flesh.
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You.
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You do. You do. If we could put all your thoughts on the big screen, you'd be embarrassed. Okay? All of us have fleshly thoughts, thoughts that aren't always pure and righteous and holy and the right thing. Sometimes we're thinking thoughts we shouldn't be thinking. And Paul says his flesh is at war with the spirit. As long as we're in this earth, we will always be in a battle. Flesh versus spirit. And the flesh comes knocking. You should cuss out your boss. You should go off on the. Send the text message. Just do it.
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You should gossip.
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You should sit in this conversation and slander somebody. Oh, you should pay them back. Vengeance belongs to you. Knock, knock. Knock, knock, knock. Sue the out of them. Just take them out, right? Do what you want to do. Just take the guy, take the girl, do what your flesh and the flesh is always knocking. Everybody say, who's at the door? Paul says the spirit is knocking too. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. So pray. Prayer. Prayer and renewing your mind. Getting your mind back in the word of God. And I want you to just write this down in your notes if you're taking notes. Note takers are history makers, world changers. If you're not taking notes, put it in your mental notes. You cannot change your life unless you renew your mind. The only way you change the outside is by changing the inside. And you don't change the inside by just sitting with a counselor and going through all the psychological diagnosis of what you're battling right now. I'm not against counsel, I'm not against therapy, but I'm gonna say this. The only way to truly renew your mind is to let the word of God become your compass. Read it, believe it, study it, practice it, apply it. And through that, your mind will begin to be renewed and your life will begin to change.
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That's it.
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That's the key. Paul says, put off the old you, put on the new you, right? And verse 22, he says, it's being corrupted. The old you is being corrupted. It's dying anyway, so just get rid of it. It's already a corpse, so just get rid of it. And then in verse 23, he says this. Be made new in the attitude of your minds. Be made new in the attitude of your minds. It's all in here. It's the attitude on the inside. Attitude determines altitude. Thoughts determine actions. I was watching yesterday some Football in ou. One shout out to ou. And there was this moment where the OU quarterback falls to his knees and he points up to heaven. And my son Liam is like, dad, I think he's a Christian. He's a Christian. I said, yeah, he is. And I pulled up his Instagram account, and the very first post that he has, the new quarterback that everyone's kind of talking about, the very first post he has on his Instagram, we'll just throw it up there is him getting baptized in front of his teammates. He's getting baptized and he's saying, down with the old me and up with the new me. Can I tell you, today, God is shining a light in the sports world, and he's raising up mighty men and women of God who aren't as shining shame to stand up for Jesus, to live for Jesus. And I love what God's doing. I was listening to another quarterback, and he said this yesterday. They were talking to one, and he does play for Texas, so we'll forgive him for that. But Archie Manning, he said this. He said lately there's been a lot of. They were telling him, they were like, archie, have you read all the stuff they're saying that's not very positive about you on social media, on the news, on the sports, like espn? And he said something that I thought was really interesting. He said, if anything pops up on my phone, whether on social media or news or whatever, if anything pops up on my phone about me, positive or negative, I have an option. Everybody say, I have an option. I have an option. In fact, on the side of the screen, I'm just gonna throw this up there on the side of the screen. Throw that up there. Guys, if you guys have that picture, there it is, it says this. You could choose to follow someone, unfollow them, or there's that little I right there, information. Why am I seeing this post? And he said, I choose not interested. Everybody say, not interested. What you feed, grows. What you feed, grows. What you feed, grows. What you feed, grows. And if you keep feeding the negativity on social media, you will keep growing an algorithm of negativity that knocks on the door of your heart every single day. What you feed. Everybody say, what I feed, grows. So if I feed lust, it gets bigger. If I feed perversion, it gets bigger. If I feed my flesh, it gets bigger. If I feed negativity, it gets bigger. If I feed gossip, it gets bigger. If I feed, it gets bigger. Whatever I feed is gonna grow. And he said this. He said, I have a decision I have an option that I can click not interested. And he said this. If I live off the compliments of my fans, I'll die off the criticism of my critics. So I choose not to listen to either. I don't want to hear anything they have to say, good or bad, because I have an assignment. Do you know the assignment? Ask the person next to you, do you know the assignment? Paul's given us the assignment. In Ephesians 4. Do you know your assignment? Ephesians, chapter 4, he says, here's your assignment. Put off the old. You don't keep on living in the past as it's dying. The former way of living, put on the new. You created to be like God himself, in true righteousness and holiness. Verse 25. Therefore, stop lying. Put off falsehood. Speak truthfully to your neighbor. Now, some people use this and like, I'm going to tell the truth. You look fat. You look ugly. You don't look good. That's not nice. That's not the truth. That's just meanness. Oh, Paul, I'm not going to lie to them. You know, people come to me, they're like, paul, you're gaining a little bit more weight these days. You know what? I'm like, fine, say it to me. But don't just walk up to people and say, I'm gonna tell them the truth and not say it from a place of love. Cause Paul also says in the same chapter, in verse 32, here's the assignment, everybody say, do you know the assignment? Verse 32, he says, Be kind. So you can't speak truth from an unkind place. You can't speak truth from a place of harshness or meanness. He says, be kind. Here's the assignment. Be kind, speak truth, don't lie. But whatever you're going to say, say it from a place of compassion. In verse 26, he says, in your anger, it's okay to be angry. It's not bad to be angry. In fact, anger has produced a lot of good things in people's lives. Anger has actually led people to say, I am angry that I am living such an aimless life, and I am ready to get right with God and get in discipleship class and get free of these addictions and free of these strongholds. And free, like, be angry about the sin. Don't be angry at a person where it turns into bitterness. He says, in your anger, do not sin. In other words, you can actually have holy, healthy anger that leads to righteousness, that leads to life change, that leads to you Getting better. By the way, the only one you're in competition with is not another brother or sister. It's you. It's the you from yesterday, it's the you from last year. It's the lazy you, it's the habitually sinful you. It's the you that needs to change. And you may not like that, but that's the truth. And the truth sounds like hate to those who hate the truth. So Paul says, in your anger, don't sin. In other words, don't let the sun go down while you carry anger and harbor bitterness towards someone. I remember one night Ashley and I had gotten into a disagreement and I was like, we are not going to sleep until we get this worked out. And she was like, paul, I'm going to bed. I was like, you can't go to bed. You're sinning if you go to bed right now. And she was like, don't preach at me, Pastor Paul. She was like, it's just you and me right here, not the whole church. And I was like, ashley, we've got to get this figured out. The Bible says we can't go to sleep until we get this figured out. And she said, no, no, no. The Bible says don't let the sun go down on your anger. And she said, paul, I choose not to be angry at you. But it's two in the morning. We need to go to sleep. Let's talk about this tomorrow. And I thought I needed to hear that and someone else needs to hear this. You may not be able to fix all the problems in one day, but you can choose to go to sleep releasing the bitterness and saying, I'm not going to carry bitterness into tomorrow. I'll wait till tomorrow to talk through things. I'll wait till next week to talk through things. But I'm not going to go to sleep carrying and harboring bitterness towards another person. That's your job, not my job. I've got to deal with the anger in me. You got to deal with the anger in you. Paul says, don't let the sun go down carrying anger in your heart towards him. This is what God said in Genesis chapter four to Cain. God says to Cain, look at that, look at that. Sin is crouching at the door. What was the sin? Cain was thinking about killing his brother. He was like, I hate Abel. Abel gets all the blessing. Abel gets all the favor. God shines a light on Abel. And Cain is so angry at God and his anger at God and his anger at his brother is knocking. That's what God says. God says, someone's knocking at the door. And Cain, if you let it in, it's going to destroy you. Anytime you try to get revenge, you better plan to dig two graves because you're going down with it. Anytime you try to get even or take vengeance or take matters justice in your own hands, God is saying vengeance belongs to the Lord. And by the way, you don't know the whole situation here. Cain, your brother Abel is actually doing things right. Cain, you're the one that needs to change. But if you refuse in your pride to deal with your anger, your anger is going to take over your house and it's going to destroy your future. It's knocking at the door. I want to give you a couple thoughts before we close out today from these passages, and then we'll read the very end of Ephesians 4, number 1. See sin for what it is. How do we recognize who's at the door? We got to see sin for what it is. There was a moment in a movie I watched as a kid called Three Ninjas. Let's go, Rocky, Colt, and Tom Tom. Okay, so these three ninjas, these three little boys, they were the ninjas. And you're like, we got that. And they were fighting, and there were some robbers that came at the door, but they pretended. The devil masquerades. He dresses up. He's the great disguise, the master of disguise. They pretended to be the delivery, the pizza delivery guys. They were like, pizza delivery. And as soon as the babysitter opens the door, they put their foot in the door. All they needed was a foothold. And then they came in and they began to try to rob the house. We got to recognize what sin is. Sin may try to masquerade itself as just a nice little thing. Like, I heard a story about a woman who had a boa constrictor living in her house with no cage. And she kept feeding it, kept feeding it. She even allowed the boa constrictor to sleep in the room with her. And she was like, well, he's not on the bed. He's just on the floor. And he kept getting bigger and bigger and bigger. And he was like 14, 15, 16ft long. True story. And then she said, well, you know, he wanted to sleep on the bed. So I just let him get up on the bed. He's not a puppy. The snake slept on the bed. And eventually the snake took her, like, ended her. Now, we shouldn't laugh at that. It's sad. It's terrible. Here's the point. Sin is a boa constrictor. It's a python. It may masquerade itself as cute, flirtatious, fun, sweet, just a little thing on the side, just whatever. But man, if we don't deal with that, it will kill us. It will kill us. And sometimes we just need somebody who's like, in love. Like, hey, you need to get that boa constrictor out. Like, that thing's not gonna help you. That thing's gonna destroy you. You gotta. This is why I think discipleship class and connect groups and restore class. It's so good. We need to be connected in community. We need that community. I need brothers, iron, sharpening iron. I need. You need sisters. You need people in your life that are like, hey, that boyfriend, like, he keeps. The way he keeps talking to you and like threatening to hit you. Like that's like, that's starting to get abusive. Like, you need to be careful. Like, you need some sisters in Christ that love you enough to just talk in truth to you. And we need brothers in Christ that will speak truth and love to us to say, hey, that's like, that stuff is not gonna help you. Number two, realize, realize, Paul, realize I'm preaching to myself real. Realize we weren't made to live like that. I'm not made to live in a darkened state. I'm not made to live under the control of sin. God is my creator. He didn't create me to live in bondage my whole life. He didn't create me to live as a slave to fear, as a slave to sin. God wants me to live free. Jesus said in John 10:10, the thief comes to steal, kill and destroy. But I've come to give you life and life more abundantly, life to the fullest, so I don't have to live like this. I don't have to live trapped in sin. Number three, put on the new you put on the new you put on the Christ centered nature. Every single day. As you wake up, as you get ready to send a text message, as you get ready to scroll through Instagram and those pictures start popping up and this stuff starts popping up, you got an option? Everybody say, I got an option. Not interested, not interested, not interested. Start choosing things that are going to give you life. Start choosing an algorithm that's going to feed you hope, that's going to feed you purity, that's going to feed you faith. When fear comes knocking, keep the door closed. When faith comes knocking, let it come in. When sensuality and all kinds of stuff is knocking at the Door. And it's like, oh, this would feel so good. Like, you should do this. You need this high. You need this buzz. You need this feeling. Keep the door closed. And when purity comes knocking, when hope and freedom comes knocking, When Jesus opened the door and said, God, keep working on me. Keep making me who you've called me to be. Number three, put on the new you. Number four, I want the worship team to come up here. Number four, put off the old you. Now, this is intentional. This is shutting the door on the devil. Shut the door on the devil. What's that old song? Shut the door. Keep the devil in the night. I don't know how it goes, but it was good. I liked it. Shut the door. Shut the door on the devil. Shut the door on the devil. Shut the front door. Shut the back door. Shut the side doors. We had to say this multiple times this summer. Cause flies kept coming into the house. Shut the doors. Keep the doors closed. I'm tired of swatting flies everywhere. You know, the Bible calls the devil the Lord of the flies. You know what flies do? Flies are annoying, but flies lay eggs, flies, they spread germs. Flies like to ruin stuff. Once flies. Once enough flies land on something, you can't really eat it. It's been like, it's been messed with. And the enemy wants to come and do that in your house. The Lord of the flies, he's like, I'm just looking for an open door, cracked window. And you're like, netflix, have your way in our house. Amazon prime, have your way in our house. Alexa, have your way in our house. Whatever. It's like, just have your way. Just keep the TV rolling, keep the movies going, keep the shows going, and we gotta be careful. I'm not saying be legalistic here or, you know, that. I'm just saying be careful what you allow to play through the screens of your home. Be careful what you allow to play through the speakers in your home. I remember one time, one of our kids was trying to get a praise song to come on, and they were like, hey, Sonos. Because someone gave us a spot. Sonos. Which is like, you talk to it and it plays stuff for you, and it's connected to the WI fi. And they were like, hey, Sonos. Play. That's who I praise. And y', all, the most vile, wicked song, came on about, like, booty dancing and, like, crazy stuff. Y' all don't even want to know. It was. It was not good. And it was talking dirty, and it was cuss words and perverted and One of our kids was like, literally shaking, like, dad, Dad, I didn't do it. I promise. I'm a good kid. Please, I don't know what this stuff is.
- [40:20]
B
Please.
- [40:21]
A
And I was like, in Jesus name, I rebuke this and get out of our house. You know, I was like, I turned it off. And anyways, we had a good moment of like, how do you. How do you talk to the Sonos to make sure it plays the right thing? Put off the old you. Second Corinthians 10, verse 4 through 5 says, we take captive of every. So the weapons we fight with are not weapons of the world. On the contrary, we have weapons that have divine power. Everybody say, divine power. That's the God power. That's the God power. We have the power to demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God. We take captive. That's what I was looking for. We take captive every thought. Just because a song comes on in the house doesn't mean you got to let it play for five minutes. Just because a bad scene in a movie comes on doesn't mean you have to let the scene play out for the next 10 minutes and just stare at the TV screen. You can skip it. You can exit, you can turn it off. You can say, let's put on a different show. This is getting dirt. This is not like. This isn't helping us. You have the power to take captive. When a thought comes to your mind that's unclean, that's impure, you can choose. Hey, Holy Spirit, Spirit, I need your help right now. Lord, renew my mind. Take those thoughts that aren't from you. Get them out. Serve an eviction notice. On every thought that's not from God. Just say, devil, get out of my mind. Devil, get out of my house. Devil, get out of my relationships. Devil, get out of my finances. Get out of every thought in Jesus name I take captive of those thoughts. I speak over my mind. I got the mind of Christ. Number five. Practice the subtle of not giving a foothold to the devil. Practice the subtle arts of not giving a foothold. This is the call to take back authority. This is the call to stop letting Satan win. This is the call to say, hey, devil, you have no power and authority in my house, and you're not going to just keep on standing at the door. We crack it open for you. Practice the subtle art of saying no to your flesh, no to the devil. We always pray for open doors. We're like, God, thank you for open doors. You know what I've been praying for. Lord, thank you for the closed doors. Thank you for the doors you don't want me to walk through. And the doors. The devil's been trying to come into my house. I thank you, God. You close every door that the enemy's been trying to steal, kill, and destroy in my family, and you keep the door shut and the windows shut. And I thank you that my house is blessed. And I thank you that my house is holy. And I thank you, God, that you're changing me to make me more like you. I don't want just all the open doors that God has for me. I want the wisdom to say, God, shut the doors that aren't from you. And number six, last point right here. Open the door to life. Someone is at the door. It's Jesus. It's Jesus. I thought somebody just called me. I was about to hit do not disturb. I got an option. Not interested. Who's at the door? Shut it off. Even in the last service, y', all, while I was preaching, ask the front row this. Y' all were here, right?
- [43:36]
B
Y'?
- [43:36]
A
All. You were. You were here, right? Yeah, I was preaching. And right as I'm preaching, near the end of service, someone comes running to the front of the stage. And I thought they were coming down to, like, get right with Jesus. I was like, praise God. I'm trying to look out of the corner of my eye, but they start. They started shouting. They started slamming. You know, it was good. They were slamming Bibles on the stage, but they were slamming them, saying, I don't want this anymore. And they were slamming their Bibles. And then they're like, you want to go? You want to go? And it was. Y'. All. It was about to be a fight breaking. I wasn't going to fight him. My dad got punched in the face by someone at the altar. I'll take a hit, too. But I just felt in my heart, this is a distraction during a moment where the Holy Spirit wants to move. And what do you do during distractions? You pray. So I said, God, I thank you. That's a mighty woman of God right there. I thank you, Lord. You're working in her. Everything that concerns her, I think you're working it out in her life. And Holy Spirit, I pray God that you would minister to her right now. And as we begin to pray, it was like the Holy Spirit just. She just walked out of the room, and we kept going. And the altar was packed, and people were touched by the presence of God. You got to make a decision when things pop up, what are you gonna do? Who's that? Somebody say, who's at the door? Jesus said in Revelation 3. 21, behold, I stand at the door and I knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into him and dine with him, him and he with me. That's what I want. I want Jesus all the time, dining in the heart of my life, that I have fellowship with the Holy Spirit, that I say, God, change me, make me more like you. And Paul concludes, Ephesians 4, verse 28. Anyone who's been stealing must steal no longer, but must work doing something useful with their own hands that they may have something to share with those in need. I remember meeting a guy that came to our young adults ministry, and he said, I was a shoplifter. I used to go to Woodland Hills Mall, walk into stores. And he said, man, I was so good at shoplifting, they could never catch me. He said, when I started coming to 3D, our young adults ministry, he said, I started listening to you preach, and I started feeling convicted. I didn't like it. I left. But he said something inside me said, you gotta sit in that room long enough to feel that conviction and change. So he said, I started coming back and came down to the altar, got saved. He said, I felt bad for all the stuff I had stolen. I knew I needed to change, which is like Zacchaeus in the Bible. When Jesus met Zacchaeus, Jesus didn't actually tell Zacchaeus, you're such a sinner, you're such a thief, you've been robbing people. Jesus just said, I'm coming to your house. I love that. Jesus doesn't say change and then you can follow me. He says, follow me and I'll change you. Jesus says, I'm coming to your house, even if it's a mess, even if you've been doing some dirty stuff, even if you've ripped and stolen it and cheated people, you've ripped people off, you've done stuff. Jesus says, I'm coming to your house if you'll let me. If you'll let me in the door, I will change you from the inside. I'm so thankful. Jesus is the one religion says, clean up and then you can come. Jesus says, come and I'll clean you up. I'll change you. And so this guy, by the way, this guy ended up going back to the stores he had stolen from, making things right, got a job, ended up paying back the stuff he had stolen, and then ended up starting, like, serving in our outreaches giving out Chick fil A sandwiches to homeless people, this is what Paul's saying. He's saying, flip the script on what your flesh has made you do and instead do the opposite of what your flesh has been telling. In verse 29, he says, don't let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths. Only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. Speak life. Build people up. If you have something good to say about someone, say it. And by the way, don't wait till their funeral to say it. Say it while they're still here. Tell the person next to you, say it while I'm still here. Don't you go dying on me. Don't you go dying on me. Church, if you got something nice to say to me, don't be like, well, one day when Paul's dead, I'm gonna say it at his funeral. I'm gonna say, he was a pretty good preacher. I liked his suit, y'.
- [47:45]
B
All.
- [47:45]
A
I don't know. I don't know when I'm gonna go, but I can't hear it when I'm dead. So if you got something nice to say to me, say it while I'm still here. If you got something nice to say to your wife, say it while she's still alive. If you got something nice to say to your dad or your mom or your husband, say it while they're still here. Don't wait till they're gone. Don't be like, oh, now I should probably speak some life to them now that they're dead. No, speak some life to them while they're still alive. Give them more life. Give them more life. Yeah. Gas them up. Fuel them up. Give them some more hope. Give them some more courage. And verse 30, he says, and we're almost done. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Well, how would I grieve the Holy Spirit of God? Here's how. In verse 31, get rid of all bitterness. You know what grieves the Holy Spirit when we say, I love you, Jesus, but I hate that person over there. I hate them so much. I'm so bitter at them. The Holy Spirit is. He's leading us to forgiveness. Who do you need to forgive? Who's still holding on to your heart that broke your heart? Who's still keeping you in chains? Who do you need to let out and say, you know what I have been holding? I can't Carry this corpse with me any longer. He says, get rid of all bitterness. Get rid of rage and anger. You throwing your fist at the wall, you screaming at your wife, you cussing people out. You're being. He says, no, no, I'm not saying that you're like, you need to get saved again. I'm just saying, like, that's not what should keep defining your future. Brawling and slander every form of malice. He said, instead, clothe yourself in kindness and compassion with one another, forgiving each other as Christ forgave you. Would you stand your feet all over this place? Lord, I pray today that we would put off the old us, put on the new us in Christ, that we would become more like you. Would you bow your heads and close your eyes with me today? If you're here right now, and there's some areas in your heart that you need the Holy Spirit to work on, some areas where you need to forgive, maybe some areas where you need to change, maybe you need to have a funeral for something in your life. Maybe you've been holding on to the nostalgia, memories with that past way of life. What you did with that one person, what you did with that group of friends, how you live, lived when you were doing what your flesh craved. And today the Holy Spirit's like, hey, can we be done with that? Can we have a funeral for that? Can we move forward into greater days? Your best days are not behind you. Your best days are right in front of you. If you'll surrender to the Holy Spirit who's at the door. Hope is at the door. Freedom is at the door. Grace is at the door. Compassion is at the door. Jesus is at the door. He's saying, let me come in. Let me change some areas in your life. And let me not just come into the kitchen, let me come into the bedroom, let me come into the dorm, Let me come into the areas that you haven't given me access to. Let me. Let me help you let go of some things you've been holding on to with heads bowed and eyes closed. If that's you today, you got something. You just need to let the Holy Spirit change inside you. I want you to raise your hand from the front row to the back row. Yeah. Hands going up all over this place. Don't miss this moment, sir. Don't miss this moment, man. God's saying, can we. Can we have a funeral for that? Can we let that thing go? Can we move you into a new season in that area? Maybe you're here right now and you say, I just need to surrender to Jesus. I need to repent and get right with God. I need him to truly save me and just change me. Today, if you're ready to receive salvation, I want you to raise your hand. Yeah, maybe you're watching online if you raised your hand for any of those or you just feel to come down to the altar today. I want you to leave your seat, come and meet me at the altar and we're just going to worship for these next few minutes and we're just going to say, God, have your way in us. God, work in us. Lay down whatever you need to lay down. Habits, sin, pride, anger, selfishness, resentment, malice, rage. Getting drunk, doing whatever you your flesh craves, Sleeping around with whoever you want to sleep. That today you're saying, God, I bring my body into your temple. God, that your temple would be clear inside of my temple. God, that you would purify my body, my mind, my spirit, my soul. Have your way in my life. Renew my mouth, renew my mind, renew my heart. God, make me more like you. Change me from the inside out. Yeah, let's just begin to worship. Go ahead, Mackenzie. Lord, I thank you God that you're renewing her. Renewing her. God, create in me a clean heart. God created me a pure spirit. God, God, make me more like you. I put off the old and I put on the new. Lord, I want to live for you. I want to live for you.
- [52:56]
B
Jesus.
- [52:58]
A
I'm all yours. God, I surrender. I repent. I say have your way. God, I'm tired of feeding what I shouldn't be feeding.
- [53:16]
B
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus as a sacrifice I want to find my heart. I want to burn for you. Take my life as a sacrifice. Jesus, Jesus.
- [54:45]
A
God thank you Lord for your grace. Thank you for your mercy. God thank you Lord for your love. You never give up on us, God thank you Lord that you're doing a fresh work in his heart today. Purifying and making him more like you. In Jesus name. God, I thank you Lord. You're just getting started with what you want to do in us and only.
- [55:18]
B
Free as a sacrifice. I wanna burn for you and only it's better is one day in your cause. Better is one day in your heart house Better is one day in your house thousands elsewhere oh better is one day in your home Better is one day in your house Better is one day in your coast thousands where Better in one day day in your home Better is one day in your house Better is one day in your home Better is one day in your house Better Is one day in your.
- [56:49]
A
Jesus.
- [56:50]
B
Holy, have your way. Take my life as a sacrifice. I want to Jesus.
- [57:16]
A
This summer, a young man came up to me in the 11am service. And he said, I'm tired of living for myself. I'm tired of doing things I want to do just for myself. His name was John. And he said, I'm ready to go all in for Jesus. I'm ready to be done with my past. He said, can you baptize me? I said, we don't have water here. We don't have the tanks ready. He said, I can't wait another day. I said, well, let's go find some water down the street. He said, you would do that? I said, yeah. I said, let's go down the street. So we drove down. We found some fountains. I said, let's just get in, man. Let's just go for it. This is the video. I want you to just see this. This was John McDaniels. And just turn up the volume, guys. The oldest John, the newest year, we baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
- [58:22]
B
I am a child of God.
- [58:33]
A
It was so powerful. We didn't want to leave that moment. We just stood in the water, just tears coming down his face. We just kept praying, and he just kept on saying, man, thank you, Jesus. I am washed. I am cleansed. Can I tell you, the water didn't wash him. It was his repentance before Jesus and receiving God's forgiveness. The water is symbolic of what Jesus did. And all you got to do today is just repent. To say, God, I'm ready to change. I'm ready to surrender these areas. I just hear the Holy Spirit saying, yes, yes, God loves you. His kindness leads us to repentance. And he's full of mercy. His mercy triumphs over his wrath. So today, let's just do that together. Just say, jesus, I repent of living my own way. I repent of all my sins. I confess you as my Lord and Savior. I put off the old me and I receive your mercy, your forgiveness, your salvation. I put on the new me created in you to live for you. Holy Spirit, I open the door to whatever you want to do in my life. Change what needs to change. Pull out what needs to be pulled out and put in what needs to be put in. I'm all yours, Jesus. I want to live for you. In Jesus name, Amen and amen. Come on, give God praise.